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Royal Commission for AlUla Signs Cooperation Agreement with Jordan’s Petra National Trust

The Royal Commission for AlUla has signed a cooperation agreement with Jordan’s Petra National Trust to enhance the sustainable protection of ancient monuments. SPA
The Royal Commission for AlUla has signed a cooperation agreement with Jordan’s Petra National Trust to enhance the sustainable protection of ancient monuments. SPA
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Royal Commission for AlUla Signs Cooperation Agreement with Jordan’s Petra National Trust

The Royal Commission for AlUla has signed a cooperation agreement with Jordan’s Petra National Trust to enhance the sustainable protection of ancient monuments. SPA
The Royal Commission for AlUla has signed a cooperation agreement with Jordan’s Petra National Trust to enhance the sustainable protection of ancient monuments. SPA

The Royal Commission for AlUla has signed a cooperation agreement with Jordan’s Petra National Trust to enhance the sustainable protection of ancient monuments and encourage community participation in preserving landmarks of historical significance.
The agreement, signed in the Hegra area of AlUla, is part of a shared effort by both sides to care for and preserve their common human heritage. AlUla and Petra are both centers of the Nabatean civilization, which flourished in these areas.
The agreement includes the exchange of knowledge, skills, visits, and tours, as well as promoting education and community engagement in history, human heritage, and heritage preservation. It also explores new opportunities related to future strategies.
Both AlUla and Petra reflect the cultural creativity and architectural mastery of the ancient Nabateans. The Darb al-Bakrah route, which connects Hegra to Petra, reveals numerous inscriptions in languages such as Arabic and Nabatean, highlighting its significance and vital role in the area.
The agreement supports the Ruwat program, launched by the Royal Commission for AlUla, which offers cooperative training for citizens of AlUla.
Under the agreement, the Petra National Trust joins the commission's international partner network, which includes organizations such as UNESCO, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). These organizations contribute to preserving cultural and natural heritage.
This agreement further enhances partnerships with various Jordanian sectors, such as Royal Jordanian Airlines, which operates flights to AlUla, and Khammash Architects, part of the design and construction team developing the Sidrat AlUla project.

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Family Keeps up Beirut Dessert Tradition

Samir Makari holds a tray of mufataka, a traditional Beiruti sweet, at his shop in the Lebanese capital on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
Samir Makari holds a tray of mufataka, a traditional Beiruti sweet, at his shop in the Lebanese capital on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
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Family Keeps up Beirut Dessert Tradition

Samir Makari holds a tray of mufataka, a traditional Beiruti sweet, at his shop in the Lebanese capital on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
Samir Makari holds a tray of mufataka, a traditional Beiruti sweet, at his shop in the Lebanese capital on August 29, 2024. (AFP)

At a shop nestled in a busy, crowded Beirut district, Hasan El-Makary is weighing out containers of warm, fragrant mufataka, a traditional sweet in the Lebanese capital that is rarely found in stores.

"I've been in this shop for 50 years, but we started specializing in mufataka 30 years ago," Makary said from the humble shop with its ageing decor and low ceiling.

A kind of rice pudding made with turmeric, tahini sesame paste, sugar and pine nuts, mufataka is traditional in Beirut but less known even outside the city.

"At the beginning you add turmeric, that's the main thing, then tahini, sugar and rice... we cook it slowly on fire," he said.

The rice must be soaked overnight, and Makary said he comes to the shop at 5:00 am to make the dish, which takes around four hours and requires regular stirring.

He said his father started making mufataka despite initially believing people would not pay money for a dish that is normally prepared at home.

Plastic containers of the pudding, which is eaten with a spoon, dotted trays and tables across the shop, waiting for customers who peered through a window to place their order from the busy street outside.

Customer Iman Chehab, 55, was picking up mufataka for her mother, who used to make it herself.

"She is elderly now and she can't stir... it takes a lot of work," said Chehab, who works in human resources management.

The dish is "something traditional for us who are from Beirut", she told AFP.

Places like Makary's shop "are the old face of Beirut that we love and always want to remember", she added.

- 'Heritage' -

A few bustling neighborhoods away, Samir Makari, 35, is carrying on the family tradition.

At a gleaming shop also selling Arabic sweets like baklava, Makari attends to a huge copper pot of mufataka behind the counter, stirring it with a long, wooden-handled implement.

He weighs out and mixes the sugar, tahini paste and pine nuts in a second pot, later combining it all.

Mufataka used to be made just once a year on the last Wednesday in April, with families gathering by the sea at Beirut's public beach, father and son said.

The occasion was "Job's Wednesday", a reference to the biblical figure also mentioned in the holy Quran and who is renowned for his patience, the younger Makari said, noting the virtue is also required for making mufataka.

On the wall of his shop, which he runs with his brother, were photos of his father and his grandfather at work.

He said he sometimes makes mufataka twice a day depending on demand, with some customers taking it outside Beirut to introduce it to those who do not know the dish.

At the original store, the elder Makary said he was happy his children had kept up the tradition.

Mufataka is part of "my heritage", he said, and the family has "taken it from generation to generation".